Kansas City Confidential tells the tale of Timothy Foster, a corrupt ex-policeman. In blackmailing three criminals to complete a robbery, he incidentally implicates a man unrelated to his scheme who gets mistaken for Foster by the authorities. The man, Joe Rolfe, eventually gets the charges against him dropped but goes to track down Foster and the original criminals in a fit of anger. This poster captures a film still of Rolfe getting stopped by the police in the same van implicated in the crime. He sticks his head out of the van window with an incredulous look on his face. The police officers stand tense with a firearm pointed at him. The still gives way to an illustrative colored background that collages a city skyline, lustful couple, and masked criminals next to a bill that mentions John Payne and Coleen Gray in the film with credits beneath.